This present invention relates generally to managing infrastructure such as that of a computerized data processing system and more particularly to generalized credential and protocol management of infrastructure in a computerized data processing system.
Managing multiple business applications in a computerized data processing system or computerized data center involves the interaction of numerous systems, devices and software comprising the infrastructure. Each of these systems, devices and software may have differing associated protocols and credentials required for their management, adding to the complexity of that infrastructure. Due to the complexity of the infrastructure, automated procedures are desirable to manage the overall data center.
Automation has a requirement to handle both the protocols and credentials of the components of the data center infrastructure in order to be effective. In addition the handling of protocols and credentials in a centralized manner as required by automation places the information at risk. The notion of a single point of failure or compromise introduces a security risk that must be addressed.
Typically automated systems would have control files including information such as user IDs and associated passwords related to resources under management control. If such control files were compromised in any way that information would no longer be secure or trusted. In many cases the information that was collected was located in a single place for more effective use by the management systems. However this centralization placed additional responsibility on the administrators of the system to carefully use and protect the data against unauthorized use.
Therefore what is required is a more cost effective way to manage the infrastructure while addressing the security needs of a computerized data center.